OMA to design £110m “flagship arts building for the North” in Manchester

Dutch architecture firm OMA has won an international competition to design a “cutting-edge arts venue” in Manchester. Called The Factory, it will be the first major public building in the UK by the world renowned architect. OMA founder Rem Koolhaas and partners Ellen van Loon and David Gianotten will lead the project that is expected to start on site in 2016 and complete in 2019.

The Factory will produce and present work from a wide range of disciplines incorporating theatre, music, dance, technology, film, TV, media and live relays, scientific advancements and the connections between them – all under one roof. This ambitious programme will allow the hosting of more than one new work of significant scale to be shown and created at the same time to an audience of up to 7000.

Rem Koolhaas, founder of OMA said: “I am delighted that we have won the competition to design The Factory and look forward to realising this radical arts building for Manchester. It is wonderful to participate in the longstanding renaissance of the city, and particularly the Festival, where real experimentation is expected.”

The new commission is the latest in a series of high profile arts projects for the practice that has completed the Fondazione Prada in Milan and the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow this year. For Manchester, the building will form part of a cultural renaissance for the city that includes new and refurbished arts venues such as Home, designed by Dutch architect Mecanoo, and the Stirling Prize shortlisted Whitworth Gallery.